Syria

Six Islamist Factions Unite in Largest Syria Rebel Merger

By AFP, BBC, and Reuters

From AFP:  Six key Islamist groups fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria joined forces on Friday, a spokesman for Aleppo’s biggest rebel force said.

French Foreign Minister Sees ‘Isolationist Tendency’ in US Foreign Policy

By Roger Cohen, New York Times

There is talk of the trauma of Aug. 31. On that Saturday afternoon President [Francois] Hollande took a call from President [Barack] Obama.

Europe Loses Trust in Obama

By John Vinocur, Wall Street Journal

The U.S. president’s turnabouts on Syria and Iran—coupled with his policy fumbles at home—have diminished European allies’ traditional respect for the White House.

Syria: Should Geneva 2 Happen?

By Frederic C. Hof

Daily reports of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s tactical military advances in Aleppo, the Damascus suburbs, and elsewhere seem not to dampen the appetite of President Barack Obama’s administration for the near-term convening of a “Geneva 2” conference, whose stated purpose would be to negotiate—on the basis of mutual consent—the peopling of a transitional governing body […]

Several NATO Members Offer to Help Eliminate Syria’s Chemical Weapons

By Adrian Croft, Reuters

On Syria, [NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Philip] Breedlove held out the possibility that NATO could play a coordinating role in eliminating chemical weapons although no request had been made for it to do so.

Syria: The Ground Truth and Geneva

By Frederic C. Hof

At a recent conference, Dr. Steve Heydemann called attention to an important statement by Secretary of State John Kerry that clearly outlines how he sees the relationship between the combat situation on the ground in Syria and the likelihood that a Geneva 2 conference would implement the political transition provisions of the Geneva 1 Final […]

Save the Children of Syria

By Barbara Slavin

While the United States, Russia, and the other parties interested in the civil war in Syria haggle over the ground rules for admission to a Geneva peace conference, Syrian children are succumbing to polio and other horrible diseases and losing precious years of schooling.

Ambassador Fred Hof’s Testimony on Syria before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on October 31, 2013

By MENASource

Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Corker, Members of the Committee: I am deeply honored by your invitation to testify today on the situation in Syria.  It is a situation for which the word “appalling” barely suffices.  The crisis in Syria has, for more than 30 months, been destroying a country of 23 million people. 

Syria: Ambassador Fred Hof to Testify Thursday Before Senate Foreign Relations Committee

By MENASource

On Thursday, October 31 Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Ambassador Frederic C. Hof will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Senate Committee will convene two panels to discuss the crisis in Syria.

Syria’s Armed Opposition: Updates from the Field

After a nearly three year conflict, at least 115,000 killed and millions displaced, the Syrian civil war rages, pitting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad against a fragmented armed opposition including the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and others who oppose his rule. Over the last year, the makeup of this armed opposition has shifted to […]